C:Cybernik
by Stiv Thermal
Summary: Something which I believe all UK STC fans will be quite happy about... Shortfuse the Cybernik's story is summarized at start of fic for non-UK STC readers... :)
1. Default Chapter

Well, here it is: the start of something that I presume all UK STC fans will be happy about. A fanfic based around Shorty the Squirrel. Or as he may be better known: Shortfuse the Cybernik.  
  
Right, for those who don't know, here's a very short summary of Shortfuse the Cybernik: Shorty the squirrel was encased in Cybernik armour but wasn't brainwashed to evil, he was in a Badnik shell, but was left with a free mind. This generally pissed him off. Although he was trapped in the armour, he joined Sonic's side and used his Cybernik powers to fight Robotnik. Just before STC finished, his armour was destroyed and he was freed. He was happy But now he's sad. He's free, but he's no longer powerful. He can't fly, can't fire lasers, can't shoot blasters, he's physically weak. Here is the story:  
  
Cybernik  
  
Chapter 1 - Short Circuit.  
  
I flew through the sky. Water molecules from the clouds soaking my metal casing but never actually hitting me. I flew on higher, above the clouds now. Looking up, I could see the Floating Island, silhouetted against the glare of the sun. Some of the underside had worn away and the grass along the sides seemed more brown than usual, due to the time it had spent underwater after losing the Chaos Emeralds. Despite this, it still remained magical to look at. A huge island, containing many large zones floating about up here in the sky. Above the clouds, in the freezing cold air. Temperature sensors told me that it was -3 (C up here, but internal heaters kept me warm. I flew on until I reached the edge of the island, then swept up over the edge and cut my jets to fall safely onto the islands surface.  
"Good work, Shorty." Came Tails' voice over the radio, inside the plane I had just landed. "You can still be a great help to us without your Cybernik armour yet." I sighed to myself. Freedom is definitely overrated.  
  
My name's Shortfu- ... Sorry, my name's Shorty the Squirrel. I used to be a normal squirrel, although some might have said that I had a bit of a short temper. I lived in the Emerald Hill Zone, all until the day one of Robotnik's capture ships swooped into the Zone and kidnapped a large number of the residents, including my best friend, Hopper the Rabbit. I managed to hide out on board the ship until it reached Citadel Robotnik in the Metropolis Zone. Once there, I skulked along in the shadows alongside my friends as they were taken into the Badnik Processing Plant. Once inside, I managed to navigate my way through the air vent system to locate the room where they were taken. The tyrant himself was present, along with his creepy sidekick, Grimer. I thought that this must be unusual; a hundred citizens a day were made into organic batteries for his robotic monstrosities. Why would he be here for this selection? As I listened, it became apparent. He had created a new type of Badnik armour, stronger than any that came before it. It was constructed entirely of Megatal, a newly discovered alloy which was thought to be the strongest element in existence. It had the fastest internal processor in Badnik history, faster than any computer ever invented. It ran on a minimal amount of solar energy which it could store in internal batteries. It had the most powerful weaponry in the Badnik fleet, located in twin blasters on the wrists of each arm. All in all, it was the perfect killing machine. Totally loyal once the mind of the subject inside has been taken over by the Badnik Program. I listened more and to my horror, I found that the sweep in the Emerald Hill Zone was not a random citizen capture mission. The way the new Badnik armour had been built meant it was only able to accommodate a single species, which in turn was found only in the Emerald Hill Zone. Strong legs to hold the weight of the Megatal, a large tail to fit into the solar energy receiver unit, and fast reflexes to match the new Badnik armour's processing speed. A squirrel. Robotnik had attended this robotisization to interrogate the already captured prisoners as to the whereabouts of one Emerald Hill resident: Shorty the Squirrel. It was me that was planned to fit inside the armour. As I sat silently inside the air duct, Robotnik became growingly impatient towards my friends who were not giving away a single detail as to where I could be. I felt a swell of pride and made a mental note to thank them as soon as I got them out of this mess. Suddenly Robotnik's hand lashed out to a desk in front of him and he lifted a keypad up to his face. The keypad had simply a green button in the centre of it. He moved his finger to hover over the button and declared in a loud and angry voice: "Now you shall all serve me!" Without thinking, I threw myself out of the air duct, sending the metal grille clashing to the ground. "KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY FRIENDS, BUTTERBALL!" Robotnik looked in my direction, surprised, but didn't let my outburst stop him from his goal, he pressed the green button. I cleared the distance between us and snatched the keypad from him. I didn't know which would make more damage to the running Badnik program so I brought the keypad high over my head and smashed it into the desk console. There was a loud fizzle and a crack as the console exploded but Robotnik's laughter told me all I needed to hear. "You're too late, furball. Your merry muckers are now Badniks!" He threw his head back and let out a manic laugh. I jumped at him, aiming to punch him as hard as I could in the face but I was grabbed from behind. I realised for the first time that the room held three Robot Troopers as guards. The trooper held me upside-down by the leg in front of Robotnik. "Temper, temper, Squirrel-Kins! I have a special plan for you!" "You're not turning me into a Badnik, Egg-Breath!" "Who mentioned Badnik?" Robotnik sneered. "You have the honour of becoming the first of a new type of Super Badnik! An unstoppable Cybernik force that even the cursed Sonic could never defeat!" Then he said the words that truly revealed the full story behind the Cybernik program. "And once connected to the circuitry of the Cybernik, you can never be free again!" I was forced into the armour, I fought as hard as I could but there were now three Troopers holding me. As the final piece of the armour was locked into place, the last thing I heard through my own ears was the sound of the ugly, evil blob of fat behind the computer console, laughing as I was made into the first of his new breed of Badnik. The all powerful, seemingly perfect, ultimate threat to the citizens of Mobius; Cybernik.  
  
CYBERNIK PROGRAM ACTIVATED  
  
AWAITING INSTRUCTIONS...  
  
INSTRUCTIONS RECIEVED...  
  
............  
  
EXECUTE: C:/CYBRNK/BTRY/MINDCONTROL.EXE  
  
PROGRAM INITIALISED...  
  
PROGRAM RUNNING...  
  
SUBJECT RESISTING...  
  
BOOSTING POWER...  
  
SUBJECT RESISTING...  
  
BOOSTING POWER...  
  
SYSTEM FAILURE...  
  
REBOOTING...  
  
PROGRAM FAILURE  
  
RE-EXECUTING PROGRAM...  
  
PROGRAM ERROR...  
  
PROGRAM DELETED.  
  
"... HEH. YOU'RE NOT GETTING RID OF ME THAT EASILY, LARDBALL..." 


	2. C:Cybernik Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 - Revelation.  
  
It's been three months now. Three months since I last held the power of a laser blaster on maximum force. Three months since I could fly effortlessly at nearly the speed of sound. Three months... since I was freed. After my Cybernik armour was destroyed, a creature called Chaos appeared on Mobius. A large group, most of the freedom fighters, fought it and eventually won. It was during this time that I realised just how useless I am to the freedom fighters like this. On my own. I was sat around in Tekno's lab, she was crouched under some large metal thing, busily messing with a tangle of wires hanging just above her head. I'd been thinking about asking for a while now... She said, as soon as I lost my old armour, if I ever wanted a new suit, she'd build it for me. I took a deep breath and tried to sound as least desperate as I could. "Tekno, I want new armour." "What?" "Cybernik armour, I want it... please." She climbed out from where she was working and brushed her hair out of her face. "Why, Shorty? I thought you were making the most of this new lease of life, learning to fly the plane and use a crossbow...?" "I am, Tekno. It's great to be part of the team with things I can do naturally, but... I miss... the power." Tekno looked hesitant. "Shorty, to make Cybernik armour, I'd need Megatal..." "So get some, you've done it in the past, for weapons and stuff. The Sky Pods Megatal plated isn't it?" I was confused, I'd seen loads of it in a huge melting pot in one of the underground rooms of the lab. "Yeah, it is. But that Megatal was all I had left, it came from the supply I managed to steal when I... stopped working for Robotnik." "So you're saying you can't get any more?" "Well, there's only one place that has the technology to manufacture it... Robotnik's plant in the Metropolis Zone..." "Then I'll just have to go in and get some." I was Shortfuse the Cybernik, I could do any-- "Shorty, you can't. You're not invincible, remember?" It hit me again, like it had hundreds of times in the last 3 months, I wasn't Shortfuse the Cybernik. I was Shorty the Squirrel. "Oh, yeah." Tekno looked at me again. "We could get Sonic to go in and get it, he'd be able to get through the defences." "No, Tekno. I don't want to tell the others, they all think I love being free. They'd think I was weak if they knew what I wanted. I just want this between me and you." Tekno looked like she wanted to say different but she just smiled and nodded. "Thanks, you're the best friend I have." "What're we going to do then? We still need the Megatal..." "I'm going to get it. I can do it. I'm Shortfu- Dammit. Well, I can still do it." She smiled for a second. "No, I'd never let you do that. You'd be dead in minutes. I'm going with you." "No Tekno, this is my job. I'm not going to drag you into it with me." "I'm already into it Shorty," She tried to wipe an oil stain from under her left eye but only succeeded in smearing it in even more. "You're my best friend too and no matter what you say, I'm going with you." I licked my thumb and smudged the oil stain from her face, then gently shoved her back under the machine she was working on. "We'll see, girl."  
  
********** This isn't the complete chapter, I'm just putting this up so you all know I'm not dead. There'll be more, no idea when, maybe next year. But there will be. All I'm gonna let you know now is that Cream's in the plot and this is how I'd have her introduced to the STC world. =)  
  
- Stiv. 


End file.
